Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement in current supply systems, comprising a DC generating device and substantially parallel-running overhead lines for non-railbound vehicles provided with current collectors.
At the present, the use of non-railbound vehicles, such as trolley buses and cable trucks, involves the limitation that the current collector of a first vehicle blocks the overhead line for other vehicles, so that it is not possible for a following vehicle to drive past the first vehicle. Furthermore, discontinuities in the overhead line cannot be allowed, so the realization of special crossings and switches between separate vehicle lines requires complicated constructions.
Suggestions have been put forward to avoid these problems by introducing hybrid vehicles, that is vehicles which are driven mainly through the contact of the current collector with the overhead contact system, and when any of the above-mentioned situations arises, removing the current collector from the overhead line and utilizing a second source of operation connected to the drive system of the vehicle, such as a conventional combustion engine, battery operation, or the like, for passage past a vehicle, a crossing, and so on. However, the problem remains that the current collector must be manually adjusted to the overhead line, so an interruption in the operation of the vehicle is necessary, and therefore the advantage derived through the hybrid operation cannot be utilized completely.